


this love is a burden I cannot bear

by jdphoenix



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Episode: s02e23 Unthinkable, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-17
Updated: 2014-05-17
Packaged: 2018-01-25 12:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1648055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jdphoenix/pseuds/jdphoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>The city comes first.</em>
</p><p>Quentin demands an explanation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	this love is a burden I cannot bear

**Author's Note:**

> Because I think a father would be more concerned with his daughter than feeding the hero's current emotional crisis.

The ache in Quentin’s chest isn’t bad despite the severity of his fall, which is how he knows he’s in some seriously deep shit. A blunt force trauma like that is a slow killer, leaving a man feeling more or less fine for hours afterward until the internal injuries reach their breaking point and-

Well, he’s a cop. He knows what comes after that. It’s secondary to his daughters’ safety.

The bitch who poisoned Sara and apparently kept her together for the last five years is back in town, as if things weren’t going completely to shit already. All it takes is a word from Sara to reassure him. She’s strong, stronger than he ever imagined, and if she says she’s okay, he’ll take her at her word. After all, he can see her alive and well before him. It’s Laurel who’s out of sight and definitely not out of mind.

“Wilson took her for a reason!” he says, bypassing Sara and going straight for the Arrow.

“I know what it is.”

Quentin’s heart stalls. For the last half hour he’s been replaying that damned video of Thea Queen begging for her life. Only in his head it’s Laurel in Thea’s place and there are a few choice additions, like that time the Dollmaker kidnapped her and when the man he’s currently begging for help used her as a human shield.

“The city comes first.”

Quentin understands. He really does in spite of the overwhelming surge of pure _no_ that rises up in him. He’s devoted his life to this city but…

“This is my daughter! This is your sister!” He turns to Sara but he can see immediately she’s more sorry than enraged. Can she be so devoted to the Arrow that she would leave Laurel to whatever Wilson’s planned? Which the Arrow apparently knows about already. “Did you know?” he asks, his focus once more on the leader of this little gang.

The Arrow turns away from the window and the view of the burning city. “ _What_?” he asks.

“Did. You. Know?” Quentin returns just as darkly. “You know why he’s taken her! Did you know it would happen and just forget to mention it to anyone?”

“Dad-” Sara says.

Quentin ignores the stab of pain in his chest and shakes off her soothing hand to step closer to the other man, so close he can see the way the mask crinkles over his furrowed brow and his nostrils flare. The Arrow could drop him a hundred different ways even without his injury but right now he doesn’t care.

“If you’re not even going to bother saving her, you at least owe me the truth.”

The Arrow meets his eyes for long seconds before breaking contact to send a swift nod over Quentin’s head. Quentin can feel Sara move back and then the sound of several footsteps moving away. He doesn’t need to turn to know the room’s been cleared.

The Arrow’s shoulders sag and for the first time Quentin can see the weight that presses on him.

“You’re right,” the Arrow says as he puts distance between them, “I do owe you the truth - and I _did_ know Wilson would go after Laurel. I had hope she'd be safe at the police station.” The "with you" hangs in the air and only makes Quentin's blood boil all the more. "I was wrong."

“What does he want with her?” Quentin asks, closing the distance between them.

The Arrow is angled away, his hood falling low over his face. It takes him a long time to look at Quentin again and the answer is plain on his face when he does.

“ _Why!_ ” Quentin explodes. “What does Laurel have to do with any of this that he’d-” His throat closes on the word. He can’t say it. He already lost one daughter and his body rebels at the idea of losing another.

There’s something that might be an apology in the Arrow’s eyes. Beneath the mask he looks scared and small. This is exactly what Quentin didn’t want from him. He’s not supposed to be a real man. He’s supposed to be a hero, something strong and indestructible.

“She’s alive,” the Arrow says. “I can promise you that.”

“How? How can you promise me anything right now?” Quentin demands. He throws an arm towards the window to take in the city.

“He wants me there. This, _all_ of this, is about getting revenge on me. Slade won’t kill Laurel unless I’m there to see it.”

It’s too much at once. The truth of Wilson’s motives, the sound of that word Quentin can’t say, the confession between the Arrow’s words - it all leaves Quentin empty. He doesn’t try to stop the Arrow from passing him by. He’s really not sure how he’s even standing under his own weight.

“How dare you.”

There’s a scraping as the Arrow’s steps falter. Quentin half-turns.

“How dare you do this to her. What’d she ever do to deserve this? To deserve _you_?”

For a moment the Arrow seems almost about to curl in on himself - or possibly to send an arrow through Quentin’s chest - but then he turns, cool and confident once more.

“I told you already. Slade wants me there to witness it. I will do everything I can to save your daughter but there are millions of other lives on the line and we both know she wouldn’t want them abandoned for her sake. Starling comes first. End of discussion.”

As he passes out of the room, he leaves the man beneath the mask behind. His back straightens, the weight Quentin saw earlier set aside in favor of the weight of the falling city. That, at least, is one the hero can bear.


End file.
